Guess Who?

Most board games involve the use of a dice, pieces which are moved around a board to gain points or reach the end, and a strong sense of competition and family rivalry.

“Guess Who?” is that unusual breed of game which has none of the above; it is a maverick of the board game world!

Maverick…

Instead of the usual hallmarks, the two players in Guess Who? starts with a board each; one player is red and the other is blue. On these boards contain stand-up pictures of cartoon-like images of characters, each character containing enough unique qualities to be distinguishable from all of the others.

Each player draws a card from the deck provided, and each card has one of the characters displayed on it. The aim of the game is to guess the character on the other player’s card by asking a series of questions.

Have they got ginger hair?

Players take turns to probe each other by asking questions about the features of the the oppositions’ character. For example; “is it a male?” is always a solid start! Possible questions could involve asking about hair or eyes, facial hair, glasses, and hats. But remember, it must be a “yes/no” question!

If you really wanted to you could ask the opposition “Is it Peter?”, “Is it Charles” etc. but with the aim being to guess the quickest, this might not be the most effective way to play!

How to win…

Well thought out questions help to deduce the correct guess first, and win the game!

All questions must be answered in complete honesty by players; cheating destroys the game, and ruins family time!

As player’s eliminate characters through asking questions, they can flip down the images, until they are left with the one which has surely got to be the oppositions… unless they have made any mistakes along the way!

Guess who made it?

Guess Who? Was created by Ora and Theo Coster, also known as Theora design. The game was first published in the UK in 1979 by Milton Bradley, and has also been released by Hasbro, Lakeside, MB, Estrela, and Crown Games.

Now, Guess Who? is available in many editions, across many different countries, including Star Wars, Marvel Comics, and Disney versions. Smaller travel sizeGuess Who? features only 20 characters as apposed to the 27 on a standard board.

Why ‘Guess Who?’ tonight?

Guess Who? Is extremely light-hearted, and can be played in a short space of time, making it the ideal game to play when nobody wants to take anything too seriously! It’s chilled out, easy for children to get a grip of, and shouldn’t cause any major arguments; perfect for family nights.

Gone are the temper tantrums, the squabbles, and the urge to win at all costs. This is in no way similar to COD. Nor is it even similar to monopoly, which can also bring out our ruthless nature sometimes.

Guess Who? Is an honest, simple game, which relies on verbal communication between the two players, a great function for bonding. It is the only game I have ever played where I could not have cared less for the results. The sheer joy of the images, the fun of the questions, and the interaction between player’s overrides the desire to win every game.

Dust off your old Guess Who? from your cupboard, or enjoy one of the latest versions of the game. Because board games are always worth a re-run, especially when they are this fun!